1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to content delivery systems. More specifically, this disclosure is related to providing a user-directed, network-hosted content recording system with local playback with minimal latency.
2. Related Art
A number of consumer electronics products allow individuals to capture audiovisual content such as over the air television programming, live cable programming, live satellite programming, and the like for later viewing. These devices are commonly referred to as personal video recorders (PVRs) or digital video recorders (DVRs). In general, the recording and storage of content occurs at the location of the device, typically a consumer's home. More recently, cable companies have begun offering network DVRs (nDVRs) and remote storage DVRs (RS-DVRs). For both offerings, the recording of the content takes place at the cable companies' premises. The difference in nomenclature sometimes refers to the number of distinct recordings made (nDVR: one recording for all requests; RS-DVR: one recording per user request.) Once recorded, the contents are played back over a dedicated channel within the cable network in a manner that is targeted for the original requester's customer premises equipment (CPE). This is sometimes called narrowcasting. The CPE can be a set top box, a cable card, or the like. Thus, in operation it is quite similar to how cable video on demand (VOD) is provided. Furthermore, as with cable VOD, playback and control, including trick play, is implemented on the server side. This, in turn, may lead to high latency in serving initial requests and/or during playback in responding to user controls. Exemplary PVRs, nDVRs and RS-DVRs include: TiVo HD, Comcast DVR, Cablevision RS-DSR, and Echostar ViP 922 DVR.